The Annual Blanche and Irving Laurie Lecture in Jewish Women’s Studies“Finding God: What Our Foremothers Can Teach Us - An Exploration of Modern Jewish Women’s Spirituality”

Wednesday, June 16th at 7:30 PMAdmission is FreePhoto ID required for entrance

Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of ReligionOne West 4th street (Between Broadway and Mercer)New York City

Dr. Ellen M. Umansky, a leading scholar and commentator on Judaism and women and modern Jewish history and thought, will speak on her current research on modern Jewish women’s spirituality.

Dr. Umansky received her Master of Arts degree in Religion from Yale University and her doctorate from Columbia University. She has taught at Emory University, Haverford College, Vassar College, Princeton University, Columbia University and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is co-editor of Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality: A Sourcebook (Beacon Press, 1992); author of two books on Lily Montagu, founder and leader of the Liberal Jewish movement in England - Lily Montagu and the Advancement of Liberal Judaism: From Vision to Vocation and Lily Montagu: Letters, Addresses, Sermons and Prayers. She has written numerous articles on Jewish theology, women and Judaism, and more broadly on modern Jewish history and thought. Since 1994 she has served as the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She has long been a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion and a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. Currently she serves as Chair of the panel in Jewish Philosophy and Thought for the Koret Foundation’s annual Jewish Book Award, given under the auspices of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. She also serves on the Academic Advisory Boards of the Jewish Women’s Archives in Boston, the Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University, and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She recently completed a book entitled From Christian Science to Jewish Science: Spiritual Healing and American Jews, to be published by Oxford University Press in November 2004.

This lecture is sponsored by the The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and Women’s Rabbinic Network in honor of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand Visiting Professorship in Jewish Women’s Studies, and is co-sponsored by Lilith Magazine and UJA-Federation of New York’s Task Force on the Jewish Woman.

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Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is North America's first institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to North American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit management professionals, and offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise the renowned Klau Library, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. In partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, HUC-JIR sustains the Reform Movement's congregations and professional and lay leaders. HUC-JIR's campuses invite the community to cultural and educational programs illuminating Jewish heritage and fostering interfaith and multiethnic understanding. www.huc.edu

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